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When The Holocaust first appeared in Israel in 1987, it was hailed as the finest, most

authoritative history of Hitler's war on the Jews ever published. Representing twenty years of

research and reflection, Leni Yahil's book won the Shazar prize, one of Israel's highest awards

for historical work.

Well, in my continuing quest to learn more about the Lviv pogrom which you describe on 60 Minutes, I turned next

to Raul Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews, Holmes Meier, New York, 1985. This work too cannot be

accused of being either cursory or carelessly researched. For example, the publisher's promotional material claims:

This landmark work, now substantially revised and expanded, is destined to remain the foremost

source to which historians and others must turn in any exploration of the most infamous crime in

history.

...

This definitive edition of THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWS is the most complete,

comprehensive, and authoritative account of the Nazi Holocaust.

As well, this same promotional material cites critical acclaim for Hilberg's work in Michael R. Marrus's review in The

Times Literary Supplement which ends in the words:

No single book has contributed more, even to its critics, to an understanding of Nazi genocide.

In its originality, scope, and seriousness of theme, this is one of the great historical works

of our time.

But what does Hilberg say about the Lviv pogrom, this most massive pogrom of the Second World War; what does he

say in his "most complete, comprehensive, and authoritative account of the Nazi Holocaust"? Why he says ... exactly

nothing! He too seems to be totally unaware of it.

Worse than that - much worse - Hilberg makes statements to the effect that no such pogrom ever took place. I

reproduce below three quotations from Hilberg, the last of which is particularly troubling, as it is his summary of

all anti-Jewish activity in Ukraine, and it flatly contradicts the possibility of the pogrom that you describe:

From the Ukraine Einsatzkommando 6 of Einsatzgruppe C reported as follows:

Almost nowhere can the population be persuaded to take active steps against

the Jews. This may be explained by the fear of many people that the Red

Army may return. Again and again this anxiety has been pointed out to us.

Older people have remarked that they had already experienced in 1918 the

sudden retreat of the Germans. In order to meet the fear psychosis, and in

order to destroy the myth ... which, in the eyes of many Ukrainians, places

the Jew in the position of the wielder of political power, Einsatzkommando

6 on several occasions marched Jews before their execution through the

city. Also, care was taken to have Ukrainian militiamen watch the shooting

of Jews.

This "deflation" of the Jews in the public eye did not have the desired effect. After a few

weeks, Einsatzgruppe C complained once more that the inhabitants did not betray the movements of

hidden Jews. The Ukrainians were passive, benumbed by the "Bolshevist terror." Only the ethnic

Germans in the area were busily working for the Einsatzgruppe. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of

the European Jews, 1961, p. 202 - in this case, I am quoting from the 1961 edition)

The Slavic population stood estranged and even aghast before the unfolding spectacle of the

"final solution." There was on the whole no impelling desire to cooperate in a process of such

utter ruthlessness. The fact that the Soviet regime, fighting off the Germans a few hundred

miles to the east, was still threatening to return, undoubtedly acted as a powerful restraint

upon many a potential collaborator. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985,

p. 308)

First, truly spontaneous pogroms, free from Einsatzgruppen influence, did not take place; all

outbreaks were either organized or inspired by the Einsatzgruppen. Second, all pogroms were

implemented within a short time after the arrival of the killing units. They were not

self-perpetuating, nor could new ones be started after things had settled down. (Raul Hilberg,

The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985, p. 312)

It would seem, Mr. Wiesenthal, that you were an eyewitness - the only eyewitness - to the largest pogrom of the

war, and that at the same time, at least two of the foremost chroniclers of the Jewish Holocaust have quite overlooked

this program, and in the case of Raul Hilberg, flatly deny that any such pogrom ever took place. According to

Hilberg, all Ukrainian pogroms took place after the arrival of the Germans, were instigated by the Germans, were small

in scale, and had no momentum of their own.

In view of this oversight on the part of the historians, Mr. Wiesenthal, shouldn't you get in touch with them and

recount your experiences to them so that the story of the Lviv pogrom is not lost to future generations, and so that

Jewish hatred of Ukrainians is not diminished by the loss?

Sincerely yours,

Lubomyr Prytulak

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Wiesenthal Letter 16 Sep 9/97 Shifting date for the Lviv pogrom

September 9, 1997

Simon Wiesenthal

Jewish Documentation Center

Salztorgasse 6

1010 Vienna

Austria

Dear Mr. Wiesenthal:

In my letter to you of September 8, I demonstrated that two prominent historians seem to be unaware of the

pre-German Lviv pogrom which killed 5 to 6 thousand Jews, at least as claimed by Morley Safer and yourself on the 60